


Regrettale

by KaleidoscopeVision



Series: Darkness of the Daylight [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Genocide Run, Post-Neutral Route - Near Genocide Ending, Post-Pacifist Route, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-05-28 03:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6313753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaleidoscopeVision/pseuds/KaleidoscopeVision
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You had never RESET. </p>
<p>Everything had ended well and the Barrier was gone. You and your friends would start a new life on the Surface and live happily together. That's what you thought. Before "they" started whispering to you. </p>
<p>Should you go back?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. RESET

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, 
> 
> So this is my first ever posted fanfiction. I don't know how long it will be. It seems to have become pretty dark and heavy, but I try to put in some lighter parts too. I probably should warn people that this story includes death and touches on suicide. I still hope you find this interesting and ask you to "bear" with any possible misspellings and weird choises of word, since English is not my native language :) 
> 
> I'm also thinking of posting another story from Sans' point of view, it will relate to this one but it will take place a couple of months later and focus on "the mystery of W.D. Gaster". 
> 
> Without further ramblings, please enjoy!

  The barrier has collapsed.

You stand there, outside of the mountain, watching the golden sunset with your friends. You feel a little nervous, but very, very happy at the same time. Everyone is free, like they have wished for you don’t even know how long. You feel important as you shyly accept Asgore's offer: You, the ambassador! You understand it’s a great responsibility. It’s nice to know everyone will be there to support you.

  Toriel asks you to stay with her. Your dear, kind goat mom. You never had a mom, and you tear up a bit as you hug her. Yes, yes, you want to stay. You feel wanted, and it is one of the best things in your life of now nine years.

Everyone’s already gone ahead. You take Toriels hand and you follow them together.

That’s when they call you for the first time.

**Hey.**

The voice is that of a child. You don’t recognize it, but somehow it still feels familiar. You look around. There is no-one there, except for you and mom. You get the feeling that the voice spoke in your head. You shiver a little.

**Hey, are you going to ignore me? Are you really happy with all this?**

You don’t know what the voice means. You couldn’t be happier. This is the first time you have people important to you. Friends. A mom. A family. And they all are so happy now, how wouldn’t you be happy?

**Really?**

The voice sounds doubtful.

**Then, what about Asriel?**

Regret stings your heart. Asriel. You really wanted to save him, you tried so hard, but you couldn’t do it. That is the one thing you regret about your time in the Underground. If there just was a way to help him, you don’t want to just leave him down there as everyone else leaves…

**And if there was a way?**

That would be wonderful. But you are a little nervous about the voice. Who are they? Why are they inside you? You feel like they have been there a while already. You think you first noticed them somewhere after falling and finding yourself on the golden flowers, but you have ignored them, thinking they are just your imagination. They haven’t spoken to you before this. You frown. You ask the voice who they are.

**My name is Chara,**

they answer. Chara? Wasn’t that the first fallen human? Asriel’s friend? The one who…died? They seem to be smiling wistfully. They admit they are the same person.

  You don’t know what to say. You have heard many things about them. Not all of them were good. What Asriel told you right before you and the others left the Underground makes you a little nervous. You ask what they want.

**I want to go back. RESET. We could try to save Asriel again, it has to be possible. Don’t you want to try?**

Well… You would give a lot to save your friend. He is kind of a brother to you now that you are Toriel’s child. But thinking about RESETTING is scary. What would happen? Can you trust Chara? You have loaded SAVEs before, but never RESET. What about everyone’s happy ending, wouldn’t they be disappointed?

**We can do it all again,**

Chara insists.

**We just do everything like before, just save Asriel too, this time. It’s not a big deal. You liked the Underground, meeting your friends, right? And it’s not like anyone’s going to remember that you did it again.**

You don’t know… It doesn’t sound _that_ bad, but still…

**Listen. I may not have been the nicest person, you know? But I really just want to save my best friend. I owe that to him.**

Chara sounds very, very sad. You feel compassion and regret. Maybe you should listen to them. You could make it even better. Toriel and Asgore would have their son back. And you could meet everyone again, even if it means fighting and persuading them again. Chara sounds excited as they speak.

**Yeah! Let’s do it, okay? You know how, right?**

  You nod to yourself. The RESET has always been there. You have felt it. The thought of saving Asriel fills you with determination, and you feel the RESET button forming in front of you. You look at your mom’s back as you continue to walk. You smile a bit and send her a thought. You’ll be back soon. Chara encourages you with excitement.

 

You **RESET.**

 

 ........................................................................

 

You open your eyes and see the golden flowers all around you. You are back there, in the Ruins, where you first fell into. It’s silent and calm. You try to get up. Wait, why aren’t your limbs moving? Then you sit up. You didn’t mean to move right now. Odd. When you stand up, you’re not controlling the movements yourself. Is it Chara? You frown and ask them.

**Oh, sorry. I just wanted to try it, it’s been a while since I really had a body.**

You say it’s okay. You think that Chara just felt nostalgic and wanted to look around a little. You feel that too, as you move forward.

  Flowey waits you in the same place as before. You notice that he doesn’t seem to recognize you. He introduces himself the same way he did last time, and tries to trick you again. You dodge his bullets this time. He doesn’t seem happy with it. It looks like he realizes something about you before Toriel saves you.

You are happy to see your goat mom. It’s a little sad, when she doesn’t know you, but you will befriend her again, so you don’t worry. But as you follow Toriel and she explains the Ruins to you again, you feel Chara taking over your body again. This time they don’t release it. You feel anxious, but let them. They just want to move around. They were dead for a long time. They must be happy too, now that they are meeting their mother again. You try not to notice the uncanny feeling Chara’s silence is giving you.

  You realize that something is really wrong only after they kill the first Froggit. No, that’s not good. You shouldn’t do that. You tell Chara to cut it out, but they don’t answer. You don’t know how to take your body back from them. You struggle, but they seem to grow stronger as they start _searching_ for monsters to kill. You feel the new feeling of EXP inside you. Extermination Points. Sans told you about them. No, this isn’t good! This isn’t what they agreed on!

  Chara kills everyone and everything they can find. You start to feel it: Chara _rejoices_ when they kill. They _enjoy_ it. You are scared. What will everyone think of you if they find out that you had killed? It’s still your body, even if it’s Chara doing it. You try to persuade them. You try reasoning. Chara hasn’t answered you for a long time. All you can feel is their hunger for more EXP, for more LOVE. It is starting to terrify you.

  Something goes cold inside of you as you can only watch Chara fighting Toriel. They are using the toy knife they found. Why are they doing this? Isn’t Toriel their mother? She is the first person who wanted to take care of you. You don’t want to see this. You know what Chara wants, and hope they can’t do it. But they can, and do.

You feel the tears and something shattering inside, as you watch Toriel turn to dust before you. Chara is smiling.

  You leave the Ruins, and continue to the forest. You meet Sans. He pranks you again, but you notice something. He looks confused, his smile isn’t genuine. Has he noticed something? Chara is impolite with him and Papyrus, and when the brothers can’t see, Chara finds all the Snowdrakes, Icecaps and others and leaves a trail of dust behind you.

  You hate this. You hate the confused and disappointed look on Papyrus’ face as Chara ignores his puzzles. Sans is wary of you. You think he has noticed. He knows something. Does he remember that this isn’t your first time here? Oh no, he does, doesn’t he? What should you do? What can you? You don’t want this, you were supposed to be friends with the skeleton brothers! It hurt you when Sans called you “not human”. You plead to Chara, but they don’t respond. You encounter the dogs, and every one of them turns to dust in front of you. You want to cry and shout, but you can’t.

 

 ....................................................................

 

No.

No, not Papyrus.

Your soul is shaking when you encounter him near Snowdin and he stops you. Chara is filled with bloodlust. You hate that feeling. You know that they just want to see everything turn to dust. You also know, that people have noticed what you are doing. There were hardly anyone in Snowdin. The whole place seemed almost abandoned. Did everyone run away? Why is Papyrus still encountering you? You wish he would run. Chara is scary.

  The fight starts and you know that Papyrus won’t kill you. He is too nice. You don’t want this, you don’t want to see, it hurts so much when Papyrus tries to encourage you to be better. Why does he believe in you? You can’t even stop Chara. You try, but fail. You want to scream when Chara moves your body to slice Papyrus’ head off. You watch in horror as he collapses and his dust scatters all around you in the snow.

  After that many things are kind of fuzzy for you. You try to close your eyes from the horrors. Sans is nowhere to be found. You know that he has found Papyrus’ remains. Your soul hurts all over, you’re scared, you’re tired. Chara doesn’t even admit you’re still there. They act like this were their own body. There’s nothing you can do to stop them. They fight, they win, they kill. Your LOVE keeps on rising. You don’t want to see this.

  Chara is becoming terrifyingly strong. They can kill monsters with the first hit they land. It’s almost too easy, and they want challenge. They are exhilarated when you encounter Undyne. You die many, many times, just like before. But this isn’t the same Undyne. She should have died with that first blow, but somehow she is resisting. You feel a fleeting ray of hope when you realize how powerful Undyne the Undying really is. Maybe she’ll stop you. But your hope is crushed with heavy blows, as Undyne finally gets hit with another fatal blow and shatters, like so many monsters before her. Your friends becoming nothing, one by one. You feel so cold. Is there anyone who could stop you? Chara wants to destroy the world. Sure Asgore can prevent it? You wouldn’t even mind if the one to stop you would be Flowey.

Please.

Someone.

_But nobody came._

 

 ......................................................................................

 

You killed all the Temmies. All Vulkins, every single Pyrope and even Tsunderplane. People are evacuating. Alphys is leading them, she wasn’t in the lab. Of course she would see your evildoings through her cameras. Did she see Undyne die? You can’t even imagine what she’s feeling. It hurts.

 

  Mettaton isn’t a real challenge for Chara. You watch as the pompous robot is broken into pieces and left behind. You slip into unconsciousness more often now. You wait for it eagerly. It helps you not see what is happening. You can forget for a while. You can forget your sin of trusting Chara. Your determination is theirs now, and you’re left with nothing.

 

 ......................................................................................

 

  Light shines through the windows in the Judgement Hall. You are awake again. You wait, fearing that Sans will appear. He judged you last time. Now you have a lot to judge you of. You hope he doesn’t show up. You don’t want him to see what you have become. You don’t want to see him die.

  He waits you there, leaning to one of the pillars. He looks really mad. You understand that. You feel like crying when you listen to his judgement. Chara is impatient, they just want this over with. They want to get to Flowey and Asgore, not waste their time here talking with Sans. But that is only before Sans attacks you. Chara is astounded when you die out of nowhere, under the most powerful attack you have seen till now. They let out a laugh as you find yourself at the last SAVE-point. They go back. And Sans knows. He knows you killed everybody, and that you have been playing with time. To him, you are an anomaly. Maybe you are. He’s right about many things. You really are a “dirty brother killer”.

  You die countless times. You don’t even bother counting. Chara doesn’t care. They are busy learning Sans’ attacks. At first you don’t even notice it: Your own tears dripping down your cheeks as you fight. Sans was the first friend you ever had. You loved being besties with Papyrus and Undyne, and you loved Toriel as your mother, but Sans was the first true friend for you. You don’t care if he befriended you to stop you from SAVING and RESETTING. You didn’t want to make him suffer. You didn’t want to see him like this.

 

No.

 

You almost stumble in your steps, as Chara lets out a frustrated yell inside your head. You realize that it’s _you_ who stands on your legs, Sans in front of you, panting. You can move. You cry with relief and sorrow alike when you see Sans offer you mercy. You take it eagerly. The last thing you feel is his bones piercing through every part in your body. Then you wake up from the SAVE-point again.

  Chara fights for control with you. They win many times and continue the fight, but they are not as strong against you as before. There are moments when you are the one dodging and acting. You know that Sans won’t spare you. He doesn’t know it wasn’t you, who killed. He doesn’t know you are fighting Chara with everything you have. It doesn’t matter. You _want_ him to kill you. You are _determined_ to stop Chara.

You SPARE Sans.

You SPARE Sans.

You continue to die and you are happy, in a weird way, to help your best friend stop you. You smile as you go, and there’s confusion mixed with his anger.

But Chara doesn’t give up. They have learned Sans’ attacks thoroughly. They take advantage of it, shove you to the sidelines, and survive longer than ever before. Sans is tired. He’s panting heavily and sweating. He does his special attack. It’s literally nothing. He doesn’t attack. The “rules” of the fight prevent Chara from acting. They boil with fury as they are forced to stay put.

You watch, terrified, as Sans finally nods off and falls asleep on his feet. Chara sees their opportunity and breaks the rules. They attack. Sans doesn’t dodge. He looks at you as red drips through his clothes from the slash you gave him. He looks so tired when he smiles and leaves. You hear his words as he calls to Papyrus. You hear dust scattering to the shiny stone floor. He’s gone.

No.

You make Chara stop in their steps when they try to move forward.

No.

You won’t let them take control again. They are so strong, but you won’t, just won’t, let them.

YOU REFUSE.

You can see the red liquid on the blade as you take a firm grip of your knife. Chara is screaming in your head as you turn the blade against yourself. You don’t listen to them. This is your own decision, and they can’t take it from you. Not anymore.

The will to save your friends fills you with determination. You thrust the knife to your chest. Chara is still screaming.

 

You RESET.

 


	2. Back Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little light shines through the darkness as you start fixing what you've broken. Someone's not that happy to see you, though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now it's starting to take a turn for a little better. However, Frisk still has some hard times ahead of them. I don't know when I'll be able to post more, since I'm going to visit my family for the Easter holidays. Maybe I'll write as I travel? :) Trains are good places for that kind of thing, in my opinion.

 

  You wake up on the yellow flowers.

 

You search your mind, but can’t find Chara.

You don’t trust the relief that blossoms inside you. You don’t really believe they are gone. But you can’t feel them, and you are so, so happy, you could just stay here and cry in your relief forever. Does this mean everything is okay again? Is everyone really alive? Do they…remember?

  After a while you stand up. It’s strange how you can feel the pain from falling down, a new pain, like it just happened. You guess it did. You remember it well from a few moments ago…But still, for you, it’s been so long after that. Memories from the last timeline are a little blurry. But not anywhere near blurry enough. You still remember every death. Only the little details are disappearing.

 

  You start over again, meeting Flowey, then Toriel. You wipe your tears quickly before she sees them. You are so happy to see her. You call her a dozen times while you wonder around in the Ruins, and start to call her “mom” again. You also take the chance and flirt with her. She’s embarrassed but laughs anyway. You are so happy. She doesn’t remember. This is her first time meeting you.

  You befriend everyone you encounter. You love to see Froggits blush when you compliment them. You try to console the meek Whimsums and lie down with the Moldsmals. It’s just like the first time. You are relieved beyond words.

You can be friends with everyone again.

  It still stings your soul to confront Toriel. Her butterscotch-cinnamon pie was delicious as always. As you run from her fireballs, you can’t quite shake off the image of her shocked expression before she turned to dust. The memory still hurts, but this time you are going to fix it. This time you spare her. You SPARE her again and again, until she finally lets you go. You stay in her hug a long, long time, squeezing yourself against her fluffy fur, as she asks you not to come back. Finally you let go. You have to continue.

  There he is again. Flowey waits you on his familiar patch of grass. You look at him with sad eyes as he reviles you. Poor Asriel. You don’t think you can save him. He doesn’t have a soul anymore, and there’s no-one that could give him one. You will still try to save him. You don’t say anything as the flower plops back into the ground and disappears. You carry on, towards Snowdin’s forests.

 

..................................................................................................

 

“human. don’t you know, how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand.”

You turn around and try not to smile too widely when you take Sans’ hand and hear the whoopee cushion deflate. You still let out a little giggle. It’s so good to see him. But you notice that you instinctively flinch every time he moves too suddenly. There is a little ball of fear deep inside you. It is obvious that you wouldn’t be okay this soon after he’s killed you over a hundred times. You hope he doesn’t notice. You think it might be just you, but is he surprised by your reaction? What was he waiting for?

Another Chara?

  He talks to you. This time he says the same things as when you first met him. He doesn’t call you “not human”. You start to relax and feel warm near him, before you see him glance at you when he thinks you’re not watching. His expression is furious and full of suspicion. Your stomach sinks to your feet. You might have lost your best friend for good. You should explain. But will he let you? Will he believe a word you say? You decide to gather courage a little longer. He keeps his character up, his convincing fake smile on his face. It hurts in a completely new way.

You betrayed him. You let him down. He hates you.

 

“OH MY GOD, SANS! IS THAT A- A HUMAN??”

  Meeting Papyrus helps you forget everything bad for a while. He is just as you remember. You remember how much fun you had “solving” his puzzles back when you met everyone for the first time. You do the same this time. It’s still just as fun. You enjoy making him happy, and even Sans thanks you for it, like he did before. Even if he watches your every move with hidden suspicion. When you move towards Snowdin, he doesn’t say anything to reveal it, but you can see that he doesn’t want to leave you alone with Papyrus. His fear makes your stomach hurt, and Papyrus notices it and tries to cheer you up.

You are not like the last time.

Should you try to change the way you act? Should you stop pretending, at least when it comes to Sans?

  You have your date with Papyrus. He is so fun to be with, and the way he tries to hide how much your flirting embarrasses him is adorable. You assure him that you’re okay, when he feels bad about turning you down. After he leaves, you call him just to see, if he’d say something funny. He mentions Sans to you, and you get an idea. Sans was upstairs a while ago, right? He teased Papyrus with his trom _bone_ solo.

You think about your options. If you go towards the Waterfall, he would be there, right? But what if he’s not? He could be avoiding you like the last time… You decide you should try now, and go up the stairs and stand in front of his door. You listen, but don’t hear anything. The colorful flames that seep under his door don’t feel like anything, just a tiny bit warm. You wait a while, and knock.

Of course he doesn’t answer. You doubt that he would, even if he wasn’t angry with you. You put your hand in your pocket and fish out a small key. For some reason you still have it. You put it in his lock and turn it.

His room is like always. Messy, with a trash tornado and a pile of socks. You don’t understand why he would have a treadmill, except for pranking people. Maybe it is there for just that reason, but it sounds like too much effort for him. However, Sans himself is nowhere to be found. You shrug and leave the room, locking it again.

 

.................................................................................................

 

He waits you at the border of the Waterfall. He seems to nap at his sentry station, but fixes his posture a little when you come to view. He winks at you and gestures you to come closer.

“you know what, kid?” he says, and you start feeling nervous. But he just smiles.

“you wanna come with me to hang out at grillby’s?”

You sigh a little, and nod. So he’s going to keep the act up. Do you really have to be the one to start? Sans leaves his station and walks past you, to the wrong direction.

“follow me. I know a shortcut”, he grins at you.

Oh, well.

You end up at the doorway to Grillby’s, and stumble in your steps. Sans grabs your hand to prevent you from falling, but releases you quickly.

“fast shortcut, huh?”

He steps inside, and the greetings of other regulars chime in the air. You look at all of them and greet them too. They are all here. Nobody’s dead. Nobody’s missing. You smile a little and follow Sans to sit down on the barstools. You frown, surprised there’s no whoopee cushion this time. You look at Sans, who gives you the menu. You order fries, and let him have all the ketchup. Your appetite was lost somewhere between Waterfall and here. You think desperately what to say. You can’t let it continue like neither of you hasn’t noticed.

“Uh, k-knock knock”, you stutter. Sans looks surprised. He probably didn’t expect this. You try to form the joke properly before, out of pure curiosity, he answers.

“who’s there?”

“Ino.”

“…ino who?”

“Ino you’re mad at me.” Your confidence falters. “You… have the right to be…”

 

His eye sockets go completely black. That has you trembling for real. You’re scared of that face he’s making.

“kid.”

You wince a little.

“would you mind explaining what exactly you mean by that?”

“The…resets. and… the last time. I know you know…”

It’s really quiet, despite the normal bustle of the bar around you. He doesn’t say anything for the longest time. You start to wonder if you should just leave. This wasn’t a good idea. You’re about to have a panic attack. You jump on your chair when he breaks the silence.

“wasn’t sure if you remembered. and seeing that you do, I’m really curious ‘bout something.” The lights in his eyes haven’t returned.

“w h y ‘ d  y o u  d o  i t ? you help us, we get out, we’re all friends, and you just have to go back and destroy it all? and now you come back again? someone should _really_ make up their mind.”

“I’m sorry”, you whisper and hide your face in your hands, too scared to look at him, your body trembling. “I’m so sorry…” No, you shouldn’t cry here, it doesn’t help at all. But you can’t help it. The sleeves of your shirt are the only handkerchief you have.

You can feel Sans’ eyes on you. You still don’t look. It’s scary. Your friend’s hatred is a heavy burden, maybe too heavy. You almost cry out when you feel a light touch on your shoulder, and you raise your head in panic.

Sans looks at you with furrowed brows. It’s not an angry face. It’s more like he’s worried, and confused. The lights in his eyes have returned and he looks much more like your friend and less like your... killer.

“hey, kid. look, I’m sorry. that was little mean. look, no crying, okay?” He looks like he wants to cry himself. He smiles instead. it’s the same smile that always stays on his face, no matter what, and you didn’t even notice it was gone for a while.

You let out a small cry and almost fall on him, hugging him tight as you wail silently. He stiffens under your arms, but relaxes after a while. He pats your back comfortingly. Strange enough, you think his hands feel warm. How can something made of bone have a body temperature? You don’t ask. It feels so good. For the first time you start hoping that you might have a chance at becoming friends again.

When your tears finally dry, you release your friend and sit back, nose running and embarrassed. He looks away, then shrugs and stands up.

“i think it’s time to go back. come along, kiddo, it’s faster this way.”

 

You sniffle a bit and smile shyly as you jump off the high seat and follow him through his “shortcut”.


	3. Hope and Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It really sucked to wake up and notice he had gone back. Again.   
> Over and over again.   
> The kid came back, they always did. This time was no exception.   
> But something was different, something that had changed since the horrors of the last timeline.   
> The kid didn't have a knife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been really long between chapters, but now here's another one from Sans POV. As a warning, Sans is a bit of a potty mouth here :)   
> In this chapter you can see how I personally like to think that even after all Sans has been through, he can't quite give up hope, no matter how much he hates it :) Also, yes, there is contradiction between Sans and Frisk's memories of the past timelines, or rather, the number of them. We'll get to that later.   
> I'll try to get some more done soon, but I'm afraid I'm not that good at being very punctual with updates.

The kid came back. _Again._

Sans was sitting at his sentry post in Snowdin forest, seething with hopeless anger as he watched the time go by, waiting for you to appear from the Ruins.

The kid had _fucking dared_ to come back after last time. What more was there that they could take away from Sans? They’d already taken his brother. His friends. They seemed to control Sans life like a plaything, repeating at will, and nothing, _nothing_ Sans did made any difference. How many times had it been already? Sans’ memory was a blurry mess from all the repeating, and every time the kid came back things were even worse.

He had been fairly shocked to find himself on his bed, waking up as Papyrus yelled him to wake up behind the door. Just like he always did the morning that the resets always pulled Sans back into. He had been ashamed of himself. Had he really thought that anything would change if he just got turned to dust? That it would all end? That had been foolish of him. Just silly, childish hope. He should know better at this point.

But why was there still a new reset? There would be nothing left if the kid got what they wanted and erased the world. Had someone stopped them? Had they somehow fallen before Asgore? Sans didn’t even bother. What did it matter? It would just repeat.

\---

When he finally saw them walk out of the ruins, they didn’t hold their knife. Strange. Where was their weapon? Had the kid been so brutal this time they’d broken it already? And what was with the happy poker face? Sans frowned from his hiding spot behind the trees as he followed the child’s steps. Why didn’t he sense the killing intent? It had become so familiar to him, he would’ve recognized it in a nanosecond. It was nowhere to be found.

He approached the kid, like always. He sneaked up behind them and saw them tense when he spoke. If he didn’t know better he would’ve thought they were nervous. This was it. Now they were bound to reveal themselves, to drop this happy-go-lucky pretense they had taken on this time. He offered his hand. With the whoopee cushion and all.

Sans was shocked when they took his hand right away. The air was filled with the noise of a loud fart, and Frisk giggled. _Giggled._ They found it funny. They looked up at Sans, squinty eyes sparkling. Sans had to struggle to keep his words flowing, relying on the usual routine. He had said these thing so many times before, it was easy to just slip under the cover. How was Frisk like this? What were they scheming?

\---

They didn’t fight the monsters they confronted. They refused to fight, persuading the creatures to give up. They _befriended_ a lot of them. And when the time came that they met Papyrus - A moment Sans had been waiting in fear - they acted as if it was the most fun they’d ever had. They put their heart into solving the puzzles. They ate Paps’ spaghetti, too. Slowly and reluctantly Sans started to doubt himself.

What if- What if Frisk had forgotten everything that happened before? There’s no way they could’ve acted like this if they remembered. They were like a completely different person. This…this was like the Frisk Sans had become friends with, back when he had first met them.

The thought hurt. He didn’t want to see them like this, knowing it was just going to end up worse.

The kid was a little jittery around Sans, to say the least. If he moved too quickly, they would wince. It didn’t look like they were aware of it, though. Could it be an instinctive thing? That something in their body still remembered all the bad times, even if their mind forgot? Sans just couldn’t let himself relax, no matter how peaceful the kid was. 

\---

Oh god, how scared he was to leave Frisk and Papyrus alone together. He couldn’t do it. He just had to go restlessly roaming around the riverside and hide himself just out of sight, to watch as Papyrus confronted the kid.

They fought. This time it was Frisk, who was persuading Papyrus to stop fighting.

Not once did they take on any kind of weapon, not even their stick, not once did they attack Sans’ baby bro. No, quite the opposite. They persuaded him, said they could make pasta together. They flirted, and Papyrus was quite comically flustered at that. Sans would’ve laughed and revealed himself, if he wasn’t expecting everything to go down the drain any moment now.

But their fight ended in peace. Papyrus was okay. Pap was alive. Frisk didn’t hurt him. Sans knew that face, it was like the kid was genuinely happy. How was this possible? He was completely at loss.

And what had he seen, when Papyrus had pulled out their soul? There had been something off, but what? Sans had been too busy keeping an eye on his brother to look more closely. It had been red like always, before turning blue and then returning back to it’s original color, but…

Frisk turned in their steps and started to walk back towards Snowdin. Again, Sans was dumbfounded. Were they going back to have that silly date? Seriously? He took a shortcut back to his room, just to make sure. He could listen to them from here. Maybe even prank Papyrus with his “incidental music”, if the little dog showed up. He hadn’t done that in a long while.

 ---

He had gone to his post at Waterfall. He waited for the kid again. Frisk _seemed_ to be pacifist this time around, but it could still be an illusion. Better speak with the kid, study their reactions at Grillby’s. He was ready to take them there, to have a “nice chat” and find out if they really remembered nothing. He had to do something.

Sans grimaced at his thoughts. What was this, a fragment of hope left in him? He was sure that kind of thing should have shattered a long time ago. But it was so different…

The kid came. They looked at Sans that way again, as they approached. It wasn’t anger, or maliciousness, or even fear. It felt more like…anticipation. A little anxious, but not the least bit negative. Sans sighed to himself before greeting them. Why was this so different? 

\---

You sat together at Grillby’s. You had ordered, and Frisk was eating their fries as Sans guzzled down ketchup. The silence had been growing for a while now, and Sans was reluctant to end it, he didn't want to get serious. Everything had been going well, maybe... Maybe he just wanted to hold on to his fragile fragment of hope, for once. 

“Uh, k-knock knock.”

Sans almost chokes in the condiment when the silence is broken. He looks at the kid, bewildered. Was that a knock knock joke? That sure was something deviating from the “normal” routine. Had Frisk ever done this before? Sans couldn’t remember. The kid looks so nervous.

“who’s there?” he answers, curious of what’s to come.

“Ino.”

“ino who?”

“Ino you’re mad at me. You… have the right to be…”

Well, shit. There goes Sans’ stupid hope for a Frisk without memories. But he has to be sure. As if their expression doesn’t prove the point. They look terrified as they look at him.

“kid”, Sans says, and the word makes them wince.

“would you mind explaining what exactly you mean by that?”

They hesitate. Their eyes have a little more fear in them, and they can’t seem to be able to look at him anymore.

“The…resets. and… the last time. I know you know…”

Fuck. This kid, this kid knew everything, didn’t they? No more illusions here. Fucking hell, this’s what he got from harboring these stupid hopes inside him, how many times were he going to get hurt before he could just distance himself from all this shit?

“wasn’t sure if you remembered. and seeing that you do, I’m really curious ‘bout something.”

The kid stops breathing for a while. Sans doesn't care much right now. 

“w h y ‘ d  y o u  d o  i t ? you help us, we get out, we’re all friends, and you just have to go back and destroy it all? and now you come back again? someone should really make up their mind.”

Sans can’t help the venom in his words. This is just too much. This little runt is toying with him, just like some puppet they have full control over.

“I’m sorry”, sounds the quiet answer.

Oh.

Not what he expected. He thought they would finally let their mask fall and reveal themselves-

Frisk breaks down before him, trembling, repeating the words over and over. They’re crying, trying to silence their sobs as they wail. That face… That’s the face of someone who has lost something precious.

Something old and forgotten wells inside Sans and he hesitates, before lightly touching Frisk’s shoulder. The kid almost falls of the chair, their eyes wide, red-rimmed and panicky. The feeling inside Sans grows stronger.

“hey, kid. look, I’m sorry. that was little mean. look, no crying, okay?” He forces a smile, even if he just wants to curl in a corner and stay there.

The kid cries out and rushes to hug him. Sans freezes instinctively, but they just hug him tight, sobbing inconsolably. He feels tears in his own sockets when he eases to answer the hug. They stay like this for a long while.

Finally they let go. They look a little embarrassed, sniffling. Their tears have stopped, at least. They’re such a mess.

This “date” really didn’t go according to plan. Sans sighs and scratches the back of his head. He shrugs and stands.

“i think it’s time to go back. come along, kiddo, it’s faster this way.”

He offers his hand, and the kid gives him a tiny smile as they follow. He has never taken Frisk back to Waterfall through this shortcut. Oh, screw it, at least it’s something different. Different could mean something…changing.

Sans tries not to hold on to any hope as he waves goodbye to Frisk who soon continues their journey.

 ---

Sans can’t quite bring himself to trust this easily. He can’t help but follow Frisk. Keep an eye on them. Sometimes he meets them again, well, just like the old times. They still seem a little unsure around him, but that smile, that couldn’t be fake, now could it?

It still feels so weird to see this Frisk, the “first” Frisk Sans remembers. It fills him with warmth, and still, he feels like he’s waiting for the cloud to burst. The times he’s not meeting the kid he kind of just…follows them from the shadows. There was his promise to Toriel…and his duty towards his people. 

 

Sans has the opportunity to watch the fights Frisk gets into. They never touch the “fight” option. They find all the ways around it. That’s good. But something else soon starts to take all Sans’ attention.

It’s Frisk’s soul.

Every time he sees it, he looks a little closer, a little more worried. This is odd. Is that… a crack? It’s running down the middle of the shining redness, like the tiny soul is carrying something so heavy it’s cracking under the pressure. Sans frowns and checks their stats as well as he can from his hiding place. Frisk’s… not hurt, right now. That kind of crack in their soul without physical injuries… Where did it come from? He didn’t remember seeing it ever before.

There’s something else, too. Sometimes he thinks he sees something floating tightly behind the red soul: Like there’s another shadow soul attached to it somehow. Sans doesn’t understand any of this.

He keeps following the kid.

He wonders if he’s not the only one having a bad time. 


	4. Hurt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara hasn't given up yet. Frisk will have dark times ahead, as they start to remember. It doesn't help that Undyne's trying to kill them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk really isn't having a good time. I'm not strictly keeping to the events in the game, but it wasn't my intention from the start. Things will really change in this reset, and Sans will probably wish he didn't hope them to. Don't worry, everything's going to get better, I promise :)

**Come on. Just go out there and kill the fish idiot.** **You’ve done it before. Do you hear me? Do it!**

I’m not listening, you thought back to the voice. It scoffed.

You had hoped Chara had disappeared, or at least grown tired of doing anything, but that wasn’t the case. They had started talking to you again, soon after entering Waterfall. You were careful not to let your guard down, you wouldn’t let them control you again. You could feel their hatred pressing against your senses, and you tried hard to push it away. Chara wasn’t happy with this.

**So you’re just going to hide in this cave and do nothing? I hate when you resist, it’s futile, you should know!**

Go away. Please, you thought. Their laugh made shivers run down your spine.

**Go away? You _really_ think I would just disappear after you let me have SO MUCH FUN last time? **

You closed your eyes, even though it did nothing to block their presence. You could still feel them giggling.

One thing was true, though. You couldn’t keep hiding in this small cave you had found behind one of the waterfalls. You had to face Undyne, who had been chasing you for a while now. You wouldn’t do what Chara wanted you to do. You’d make Undyne see they didn’t have to fight. You had to be determined. You rose to your feet and went around the waterfall, careful not to get yourself wetter that you already were. As you returned to the path you’d been following, you thought to Chara, telling them that this time everything would be fine. No one would die.

**I _hate_ when you go pacifist** , they muttered.

…

There were spears flying everywhere. They were almost impossible to dodge, and you kept running. You were terrified, you had scratches all over your body from the spears that had nearly hit you. Undyne had confronted you after you encountered her at that huge rock she was waiting you on. She didn’t listen to anything you tried to say. She didn’t care you didn’t want to fight.

She was terrifying with her spears that came at you with unexpected speeds, sometimes flipping around and changing direction they came from, and you just had to try your best to block them with that weird magical shield-thing that appeared whenever she made you stop and confront her. You fled every time you had the chance. Running and dodging was getting harder, you were exhausted, and it didn’t help that Chara kept screaming you to fight Undyne, to kill her.

You were almost at the border to Hotland. You remembered what had happened in the first timeline, she had to stop if you just got to Hotland, her armor would get too hot for her to fight in it, if you just got there fast enough…

There she was again. She swung her spear and your soul blinked and turned green. Your feet felt like stone and you couldn’t move. There was the shield again. Her spears were coming, they were faster than ever…

**Right, right, left, right, up, up, down, that one switches from left to right**.

Chara sounded bored as they guided you through the attacks. They had been doing that for the whole battle. You could feel their frustration. When it was your turn, they spoke to you again, clearly annoyed.

**You seriously don’t remember these patterns yourself? We’ve confronted her hundreds of times! I can remember every attack even that grinning skeleton fool has to offer, and you don’t know how to deal with _Undyne_? She’s not even Undying now!**

You ignored Chara. They were wrong. You had only fought Undyne twice, once the first time you met, and once when… Chara had the control. Even if in those battles you had died many times and had to return to confront her again. Chara was just messing with you. They just wanted to control you. You still winced when you heard their mocking laugh.

**Priceless! _You still don’t remember,_ do you? You think we’ve been here just twice before? Hah! Try _two hundred_ , that’s closer to the truth! Oh, we’ve reset _so_ many times, even your skeleton “friend” can’t keep count! **

You’re lying.

**Am I, now? You just gave up. I’m really _thankful_ for every time you decide to forget the last times, it’s _so much easier_ to possess someone who doesn’t realize to resist! **

They laughed like this was the most hilarious thing they’d ever heard. Fear was gathering to your heart. They couldn’t be telling the truth, right? There couldn’t be hundreds of resets! Chara’s laugh became truly malicious.

**Do you want to hear how many times we’ve fought Sans?**

They whispered. You felt your soul freezing, and it wasn’t Undyne’s doing. Sans would fight you only if you killed _everyone_ … You felt Chara smirk.

**Fifteen times,**

They snickered.

**We are making progress, really, the last time was the first time we actually killed him! That was so much fun! You always made me stop before, but this time we really dusted that hideous pile of bones! The look on his face! And calling for his brother, pathetic!**

They paused for a bit just to gloat over your horror. You imagined them tilting their head playfully.

**Next time you’ll forget again. And then you’ll let me kill him, kill _everyone_ once again, and then we’ll destroy this rotten world. Don’t you want this to end? You’re tired and really, you can’t resist me much longer. **

You weren’t listening anymore. Memories flashed in your mind like pictures on a silver screen. So, so many Papyruses, Undynes, the ways they…died. How you seemed to lose yourself more every time you came back. Every time Chara was stronger and knew how to make you lose grip of your actions, how to take control… And after all those times you finally made yourself forget everything before the last reset. How many times did you do that?

You saw Sans waiting for you in the shadows of the Judgement Hall. You heard all of his judgements, played simultaneously, how he sometimes let you go, no matter how mad he was at you. And how he sometimes didn’t. The last time was the most vivid memory you had. You raised your hand to your chest, almost feeling the knife there. You hadn’t noticed it, but you had been touching that spot over and over again, all through this timeline.

You hadn’t failed just once. You had killed your friends dozens, no, almost hundreds of times. You felt something shatter inside of you as you fell on your knees and screamed. Chara didn’t say anything.

Undyne stood before you, eying you angrily.

“Is this your surrender? If you’re not gonna do anything, don’t expect me to just stand here!”

She raised her spear and prepared her attack. You didn’t see her anymore. You could only watch the endless parade of your sins repeating before your eyes. You cried out of agony. This was too much for you. You just sat in the shallow water and cried, holding your bursting head, shaking it and wailing.

Undyne seemed distracted by this. She frowned, hesitated. She braced herself and raised her spear above her head, aiming at you. She could attack. Her enemy was down and helpless. It would be easy. She would save everyone. She gripped the spear, swung… And didn’t release it. You had fainted with a cry of pain and splashed below the water surface. You were going to drown.

Undyne dropped her spear and cursed. She was furious at herself as she hit the wall so hard, the humongous screen welcoming you to Hotland broke. Then she went to you and lifted you up from the water. You coughed, but still breathed. You were unconscious. The fish monster furrowed her brow at the soul that was slowly pulling back into your chest as she ended the confrontation. She could see a deep crack in the middle of it. It wasn’t there before, or was it? Undyne hesitated, and let out a frustrated growl.

Your phone rang in your pocket. Undyne looked at it for a while, before taking it out and answering. It was dripping water, but still functioned.

“HUMAN!” Papyrus exclaimed. Undyne winced from the loud voice. “HEY, WHEN ARE WE GOING TO HANG WITH UNDYNE?”

“…Right now, Papyrus”, Undyne answered grudgingly. The skeleton grew quiet. She sighed. “I have them. Something’s wrong. You come to my place this instant, punk, I’ll bring your _human friend_ with me!”


	5. Tears and Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is called to Undyne's and he has to confront the kid's nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh. Hello. I'm back again..?   
> Wow, I REALLY suck at updating, don't I? I would promise that I'll keep the chapters coming more regularly, but... oh well :/ I get easily distracted by a lot of stuff, and writing lots and lots of different Undertale stories is not the smallest of them... Maybe I'll get to posting them here someday :)   
> So, this chapter is again in Sans' POV. He really doesn't know how not to care for Frisk, even if he's having his own internal struggles about it :)

 

 

Sans was furrowing his brows in confusion.

He was at his post in the border of Hotland, but the kid still hadn’t come by. If this was supposed to be a peaceful timeline, they should have ran past him chased by Undyne by now. What was wrong? The kid hadn’t… resorted to violence, had they?

He jumped when his phone rang, snapping out of his thoughts. He looked at the screen and frowned more. Why was Pap calling him? Screw this timeline, Sans had been so used to knowing what would happen next that now that he had no idea, he was constantly insecure and scared. He sighed and picked up the phone.

“what’s up, bro?” he asked, forcing his voice so it sounded like his normal, relaxed tone. This was probably the first time in ages he really didn’t know what was up when Pap called. But Papyrus wasn’t in the mood for a chitchat.

“SANS!” His voice sounded relieved. “BROTHER, YOU HAVE TO COME TO UNDYNE’S RIGHT NOW!”

Sans felt a freezing feeling in his soul. He swallowed.

“what’s going on, paps?” Sans could hear the worry in his brother’s voice.

“IT’S THE HUMAN. UNDYNE BROUGHT THEM HERE, THEY AREN’T FEELING WELL! I…I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO!”

 

It was almost too easy to find a convenient shortcut nowadays. Too many time shenanigans. As Sans passed through them, he was deep in thought. The human wasn’t feeling well? What did that mean? Had they fallen ill? And fuck, this would be the first time Undyne had _captured_ the kid instead of just killing them. That wasn’t what she aimed for, her objective was to kill the human, take their soul and bring it to Asgore, and she had always been ready to do just that! Sans didn’t know if he could take much more of these nerve-wracking changes that were popping up like echo flowers from the marsh.

He got to Undyne’s house just a minute after ending his phone call with Papyrus. He didn’t bother to knock and just used a weird little shortcut, popping straight into the woman’s living room. He heard a loud gasp and flinched. He usually avoided letting Papyrus see that. The taller skeleton came to his brother, visible tears in his eyes. It was enough to blare all the alarms that weren’t off already in Sans’ head.

“SANS, YOU CAME! PLEASE, CAN YOU HELP THE HUMAN? THEY’RE NOT WAKING UP!” his brother’s voice was trembling. Sans followed Papyrus to a hastily gathered makeshift bed near the window. Frisk lay there, under a heavy blanket, curled up and unconscious. Their hair was wet, they had scratches and bruises here and there, but Sans didn’t see anything majorly wrong with them physically. Their expression was pained, though, like they were having nightmares.

 

Papyrus looked like he was going to cry. His sweet, golden hearted – figuratively speaking – brother.

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH THEM? HAVE- HAVE THEY FALLEN DOWN?” The terror in his voice made Sans sigh wearily.

“look, paps, i’m not a physician. especially not one that knows how humans work. i think you should’ve called alphys instead, maybe she can help.” His brother just looked at him pleadingly. Sans groaned. He put a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder, which was a feat in itself, knowing how much height difference they had.

“well, i think that humans at least don’t “fall down” the same way us monsters do, bro. they’re just unconscious, they’re sleeping. where’s undyne, by the way? what’s she doing?”

The woman stepped out of her room right then and looked at Sans.

“I’m here, nerd”, she said, but her voice had much less intensity to it than normal. She was frowning and looked somehow exhausted. “So you came. Know anything about the human’s condition?”

“not a physician”, he repeated, shrugging. “you should really call alphys if you’re worried.”

Undyne cursed and stomped to her hot fridge, opening and closing it without taking anything from it. She slammed the door close, frustrated.

“I don’t want to get her into this mess too!” She looked like she wanted to smash something. “I shouldn’t have brought them back! It was so close, I could’ve just-!” She turned, back facing the two skeletons.

“I betrayed my people! That human is the enemy of everyone’s hopes and dreams! I fail at being a royal guard!”

“UNDYNE!” Papyrus looked shocked. “DON’T SAY THAT! YOU ARE THE STRONGEST, THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, THINK YOU’RE DOING THE RIGHT THING! THE HUMAN CAN’T BE BROUGHT TO THE CAPITAL WHEN THEY’RE NOT FEELING WELL!”

Undyne and Sans exchanged a grim look. They both knew that Papyrus probably wasn’t really aware of the Royal Guard’s true purpose, and what happened to all the humans that fell. That was part of the reason Undyne hadn’t let him join, and Sans was, in a way, grateful for that.

Frisk let out a sob and started tossing and turning restlessly. It was the first sign of them maybe waking up, and the three monsters looked at each other. Sans considered his options and sighed. The kid’s condition could be related to the timelines somehow. If it was that, Sans wanted to know what it meant, and the kid would more likely talk to him about it without Papyrus or Undyne.

“i’ll handle this”, he said. “could you…give us some space for a while?”

Undyne seemed to catch on it surprisingly quickly. She grabbed Papyrus, who was still hesitating, looking from Sans to still restlessly tossing Frisk.

“Come on, nerd, we’ll practice some weight lifting in my room!” Sans almost grinned at her choice of words, but was too concerned to joke right now. He watched them go, Undyne’s door slamming shut behind them, and then locking. He went to sit on the kid’s bedside, and waited for them to wake up.

 

“come on, buddy, come back to us”, he murmured. His voice seemed to get through to them, and they suddenly sat up, face scared and confused. They clearly didn’t recognize where they were. Sans tried to calm them down with a smile.

“mornin’ bucko. you pick the weirdest times to fall asleep, y’know? something rattle your bones?”

The squeak they let out as they backed away from Sans, hitting their back to the wall behind them, made Sans’ theoretical stomach hurt. They looked completely terrified, and Sans was pretty sure they weren’t quite out of their dream world. But that look they gave him, that was a look of someone who was scared to death.

“hey, it’s okay, nothing’s gonna hurt ya”, he tried to reassure, but it was like they didn’t hear him. His voice only seemed to unsettle them more. They hid their face between their knees and their hands were covering their head as they started to mumble something Sans couldn’t quite understand.

“come again?” Their words, and the sobs between them, became louder.

“…Dead where you stand…” was the first mumbled sentence the skeleton could pick out. He froze. That sounded familiar, and he instantly felt incredibly bad for ever saying that to them, seeing how beside themselves with fear they were. But it only got worse. Tears were streaming down their face as they repeated the words like a mantra, and soon it was clear they were re-living some of their shared darker times. Sans could only listen, pain in his soul, as he watched the child before him.

“…Dirty brother killer” they sobbed, their voice breaking so that they could only whisper: “…Should be burning… in… hell…” That was the final breaking point. Sans watched how Frisk completely broke down before him, wailing and shaking from head to toe, gripping their head painfully hard.

Sans felt his own bluish tears form in his sockets. What had he done to this child? He had started to notice it when they had their chat earlier at Grillby’s, but now he was sure. He wasn’t the only one who was traumatized. He wasn’t the only one hurting and feeling like he was slowly going mad. He looked at Frisk and felt so painfully guilty it was killing him. There’s just no way this child, who was so happy to solve his brother’s puzzles and to befriend everyone they met, who avoided fighting with all they got, could be the same one that had that demonic smile on their face as they wielded their knife and attacked him again and again in the Judgement Hall.

Sans leaned forwards and embraced the trembling, crying child against his chest. Frisk struggled, trying to get away from him in a wordless panic, but Sans didn’t let go. He stayed still, except for his hand that was soothingly brushing the child’s back.

“i’ve got you, buddy. it’s okay, nothing’s gonna hurt you. it’s okay”, he hushed gently, trying hard to keep his voice from breaking. It seemed like years, before the kid’s trembling started to subside.

“S-Sans?”

The question made Sans startle and he looked down at Frisk’s now upturned face. The child was finally seeing the Sans in front of them, not the past versions of him. They looked confused and weary, in a way that a child their age never should. Their face was puffy from all the crying. Sans smiled a little, the expression far from his usual grin.

“welcome back, kid”, he said, his voice soothing. They try to smile, but it’s just a twitch in the corner of their mouth.

“are you feeling any better?” Hell no, they weren’t. This close Sans could clearly feel the crack they had in their soul. It was painful to think he was probably one of it’s causes. But Frisk just teared up a bit as they hugged him again, tightly pressing their face against his sternum. When they leaned back, they looked around them, maybe feeling a bit better and growing curious of their surroundings.

“we’re at undyne’s”, Sans explained. “she brought you here when you collapsed.” Firsk’s look was full of confusion.

“i know”, Sans shrugged. “hasn’t happened ever before. justice’s her calling, though. guess she couldn’t just do it when her opponent was an unconscious child.” Sans smiled. “man, she’s torn about it. and now that pap is here, he’s not letting her not be friends with you, believe me.”

Finally, Frisk smiled. They looked so relieved. When their eyes started to swim again, Sans raised his arms in alarm.

“hey, kid, it’s okay! don’t cry, come on, no crying anymore!”

“SANS?” Papyrus peeked from behind Undyne’s door. “ARE YOU MAKING THE HUMAN CRY?”

Frisk let out a happy sound and stumbled on their legs, before running to Papyrus. They wrapped their hands around Papyrus’ femurs and hugged him tightly. Papyrus’ face lit up.

“OH, HUMAN! I SEE YOU ARE IN A NEED OF A HUG FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!” He lifted the kid up to his arms, smiling widely.

“Bah! You’ve really fallen for that goodie-two-shoes schtick!” Undyne was right behind Papyrus, glaring at the human.

“COME ON, UNDYNE, YOU AND THE HUMAN WOULD BE GREAT FRIENDS! AFTER ALL, THEY ARE MY VERY BEST FRIEND!”

“Friends? Ha! I will never be friends with the likes of you!”

Undyne pointed at Frisk. The child pouted. Sans grinned, he had heard about what had happened before when Papyrus was settled on making Undyne and Frisk the best of friends. Papyrus sighed and put the kid back down beside him.

“THAT IS A PITY, HUMAN”, he spoke to them, sad and disappointed. “I REALLY THOUGHT THAT YOU AND UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS. I GUESS IT WAS TOO BIG OF A CHALLENGE FOR HER.”

“WHAT? Challenge? Don’t you belittle me, Papyrus! I’ll show you! Me and the human will be BESTIES!”

She thought for a moment and smirked.

“HEY! It was time for your cooking lesson! Nothing’s brought you and I closer than cooking! HUMAN! You’ll join us! Afraid? You’d better be! We’re gonna be the best of friends!”

Sans stood back and watched as the trio started making pasta. Frisk was enjoying themselves, it was obvious from the grin on their face when they pounded the tomatoes as Undyne instructed. The mess was everywhere, since Papyrus grew a little too excited at hacking the vegetables to mush. When they started boiling the noodles and Undyne kept screaming the heat to be turned hotter, Sans had a distant bad feeling about this, but didn’t try to stop them.

 

“Well”, Undyne shrugged kind of sheepishly, as the four of them stood outside her flaming house. Sans grinned as Frisk tried to stifle their laugh. The fish lady looked towards Papyrus and Sans.

“So, sleepover at you punks’ place?” she asked. Papyrus let out a proud laugh.

“OF COURSE, UNDYNE! THE HOUSE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THE BEST OF PLACES TO SLEEP OVER IN!”

“guess we should get going, then”, Sans said. “hey, pap, why not have a running competition there?”

“THAT IS A GREAT IDEA, BROTHER! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU JUST SUGGESTED EXERCISE! I’M PROUD OF YOU!”

“I’m SO gonna win you nerds!” Undyne laughed and sprinted away with the speed of a bullet train. Papyrus looked after her his mouth open, before he caught himself and ran after her, shouting:

“YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO TAKE A HEAD START IN A FAIR RACE, UNDYNE!”

Sans looked over at Frisk, who was smiling. The kid looked better already, but they were understandably exhausted from their ordeals today. Sans considered for a while. He still had a lot of things to discuss with the kid, but right now wasn’t the time. He could as well let them recover and have fun for the time being. He sighed quietly and smiled, not quite his usual, forced smile.

Frisk started walking after the others, before they saw Sans gesture them to come closer. As they did so, Sans winked and offered his hand.

“i see you’re not really _fired up_ for a race right now, kiddo.” He grinned and Frisk rolled their eyes, smile nudging the corner of their mouth. Sans continued. “i’ll admit that’s a bit too much effort for me, too. so, i might know a shortcut to snowdin and thought you would be interested. howzaboutit?” He wiggled his phalanges towards the kid. They smiled at him shyly, and took his hand.

Giving a small chuckle, Sans took a firm grip on their hand, and they disappeared into thin air.


End file.
